My husband Russ is a carpenter. Our friend Jeff is as well. Lately they have been doing a lot of joint projects, and they are super pretty. Yes, as a veterinarian, that is all I can tell you about them. Also, when there are animals around, they send me pictures of them.
Here are some pictures from some of their projects this past year...
The descriptions are from Russ!
Beaver Lake - We tore down the old and worn out deck and dock to make something much better.
We got the beautiful glass panels from our friends at City Glass.
We added 200 square feet to the deck and changed everything to composite decking and trim.
The railing is powder coated aluminum with tempered glass.
This house overlooks the lake - bald eagles all over.
We replaced a worn out cedar deck with a new composite deck with aluminum railings.
This is a large two level deck on a new home that ties the back of the house to the sliding door on the side in the basement.
This gorgeous dog is Pepper who escaped his yard and came to visit us.
Read more about Pepper here - PEPPER VISITS THE JOB SITE
Post from one year ago today...
MARCH 24, 2016
HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS ARE OVERRATED
More on "vet techs are super awesome, at least ten times as awesome as you suspect..."
This kitty was nervous to board for the first time, so Erika found him a room of his own with a very high perch!
He said he had a surprisingly lovely time and would board again.
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Post from one year ago today...
March 23, 2016
Abby's old bedroom upstairs has been a family room for a while, but we had three (awesome!) tiny second hand couches that were falling apart and the paint we let Abby pick out as a two year old.
Joy and Luna offered to help paint. Repeatedly.
The room was a combination of Thinking Chair Pink and Potty Train Purple. I love those names so much. *sigh* Now it is tan, but still beautiful.
The ceiling had been covered in glow in the dark stars from Uncle Bill - a gift when the girls were tiny. Most of the stars were gone - I suspect removed during bedtime boredom. A few were still there though, and still glowed. I noticed when the room was done, Russ had left one star in the corner. I love it so much.
Russ and Amanda painting
Abby painting
We recently added a couch to our main level. Joy and Luna graciously helped set everything up, approximately doubling Russ's work time. Good job dogs!
Our family went to La Casa to celebrate Mom and Dad's 50th anniversary.
Here are some pictures from the night.
Bill and Dave set up a slide show before the evening.
Amanda <3 We came early to help, but it looked like THIS when we got there!
Dave had a life size cutout of Mom and Dad on their wedding day made :)
Dave and Sara's friend decorated as a gift to Mom and Dad - it was so beautiful!
Dad, Mom and Amanda
Dad and Mom
Dave and Bill - Don't tell them I said so but they are absolutely the best brothers anyone could have.
Dave, Bill and Dad
Sharon, Penny and Scott
Abby and Arthur
Hank, Abby, Arthur and Charlie (X2 :))
Abby and Robert
Amanda and Arthur
Olive <3
Everyone...
Arthur loves cheese as much as I do!
Abby <3
Dad and Mom :)
Bill Nelson giving one of the two best toasts I've ever heard.
Dave Nelson giving the other best toast I've ever heard.
The cake!
Henry, Charlie and Robert. This was one of my least blurry pictures of the boys - weird!
Dad and Mom <3
Henry getting a second wind :)
If you want seconds of cake, always ask your Aunt. Yes, always yes :)
Mom and Penny, Bill, Scott and Cara
Arthur and his books
Sara, Dave and Olive
Dave, Sharon and Dad
Henry
Robert and Charlie :)
Dave adjusting the speaker and Dan judging him :D
For the GREAT pictures, talk to this awesome lady!
Liz and Dad
Jada, Christie and Mom
Noah, Mom and Jada
Wine glasses handmade by Christie! <3
I love this plate so much! It is from Schroeders and Morrisons <3
Happy anniversary Mom and Dad! We love you so much!
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Post from one year ago today...
March 20, 2016
My Mom and Dad, Bob and Betsy Nelson, are celebrating their fiftieth anniversary today!!
Dad and Mom, Oscar and Felix, Photos by Liz
Happy anniversary Mom and Dad!!
Thank you for loving Dave and Bill and me and teaching us and modeling for us relationships and families. Your love has reached our spouses and shaped the next generation - your beautiful grandchildren - and will shape generations to come.
We all love you so much.
Here is to many more years together!
Here is Toski the Corgi's most recent trick. Notice all the steps he learned! Toski, you can serve us waffles any day!
Dr. Chris Byers is a friend and colleague right here in Omaha Nebraska. He is a specialist in emergency and critical care AND a specialist in internal medicine! I appreciate his help on the difficult cases (including our own Luna Lovegood) and his overall expertise and knowledge. Thank you for your post Doctor! I know readers will love it as much as I do!
Guest post from Dr. Chris Byers...
I’m often asked what I’d do if I wasn’t a veterinarian. That’s a hard question to answer given I’ve wanted to be a pet doctor since age 5. My first aspiration was to be a dinosaur veterinarian. Yet not just any dinosaur! I only wanted to work with stegosaurus.
When I finally grasped the concept of extinction, my passion turned skyward. I wanted to be the first veterinarian in space. To my dismay, one of my undergraduate professors at Colorado State University, Dr. Martin Fettman, a board-certified veterinary pathologist, beat me to the punch when he served as Payload Specialist on NASA Space Shuttle Mission STS-58 aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia in 1993.
Nevertheless, the “what if” question has always intrigued me. If I’m being honest, I don’t think I’d work in veterinary or human medicine. I’d work in the music industry. Music has always been a way to calm my soul. As one who was bullied as a child, I frequently found solace in song. I would listen to poignant lyrics, and believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that the words were written just for me. As the saying goes, music is my connection to what the world doesn’t know about me.
What if I could bring my two passions together? Could veterinary medicine and music collide for the greater good of improving animal health? It seems the answer to this unique question may be yes! Veterinarians and researchers are beginning to investigate the effects of music on stress in various animals, including our furry companions. In humans, music therapy reduces pain and anxiety levels. Patients with traumatic brain injuries and those requiring mechanical ventilation may improve more rapidly. Music stimulates the body to change brain activity, immune responses, and hormone systems.
Investigations regarding the benefits of veterinary music therapy are in their infancy. Only a few studies have been performed to date, and results have been relatively mixed. One study demonstrated classical music initially reduced stress in kenneled dogs based on behavioral changes, cortisol levels, and heart rate variability; however, the dogs became accustomed to the music after a day, nullifying the initial positive effects. A subsequent study by the same group of researchers suggested varying musical genres reduced this habituation effect.
Jimi Hendrix once said, “Music is a safe kind of high.” I, for one, am excited to see what the future holds for music therapy in companion animals. Perhaps we will learn song is an essential therapy - a new drug per se - in the care of our furry friends.
Dr. Christopher G. Byers is a practicing small animal specialist who is board-certified in both emergency/critical care and internal medicine. He is also a Certified Veterinary Journalist who publishes a weekly blog for pet owners - CriticalCareDVM.com - with the sole purpose of educating pet parents about the benefits of partnering with board-certified veterinary specialists. He may be found on all major social media at CriticalCareDVM.
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Post from one year ago today...
March 16, 2016
One of the cat cases I took on recently despite my allergies was that of a sweet orange cat who looks like our Max the Cat. I am still having respiratory trouble eight weeks later, but I am not sorry!
I thought maybe I could take on a kitty or two every month or so, but maybe not. My offer still stands for the Choi family (a new kitten! I am dying!) and the Hug family and the family of Nolan the dental hygienist, mainly because he and his wife let their two year old name their new kitten, and she named him Sergeant Branch.
Back to Orange Kitty! He has a very serious medical condition that is now stable. He is doing well because of his awesome veterinary technicians and veterinary assistants. What impressed me AS MUCH as their life saving care is this...
Cat Mom told me that her friend had a cat with a similar condition. She said his cat came home with a bandage where his IV catheter had been. She asked me, would her cat have a bandage? I began to say no when she said, "because it was so cute."
I asked Erin to leave Cat's bandage on after the IV catheter was removed - we usually remove them before they go home - and told her what Mom had said.
She and Mary did THIS.
As a rough estimate, I would say you normally see about 10% of what a veterinary technician does for your pet and for you. So take how wonderful you know techs are and multiply it by ten. That is closer to the reality of how amazing veterinary technicians actually are.
(You guys are awesome, and I love you.)
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Post from one year ago today...
March 15, 2016
Recently Kelly's sweet boxer Abe was in for dental work.
Here are super cute pictures from the day.
Abe recovering
Abe recovered but still tired...and still gorgeous
Thank goodness, we have nothing medically interesting to report at this time!
All went well, and Abe was tired for the rest of the day.
The End
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Post from one year ago today...
March 14, 2016
Noodle the Poodle passed away in the spring of 2016. I wasn't ready to write about how supportive you all were until now. Thank you so much. Now looking back at your kind words and remembering Noodle makes me mostly happy, not mostly sad. That has to be a step in the right direction, right?
Here are some of the things I keep close...
Jaime Williams and Ross Nelson brought me this beautiful stone right after Noodle passed away. I love it so much. At the risk of being punched, I gave Ross an unwanted hug. He either was too slow or was feeling poodle pity because instead of punching me, he hugged me back. Thank you guys so much! You are the best! (((hugs)))
This beautiful handmade card was from my former coworker Jan Green. I still miss you Jan!!
Janie Helt and her family gave us a beautiful Easter Lily and a sweet card.
From work friends <3 The inside reads, "The Arbor Day Foundation has received a donation in memory of Noodle. As a tribute, a tree will be planted and registered in Tahoe National Forest. This memorial was given by Gentle Doctor Animal Hospitals. May this living monument to your friend comfort you during this time." Thank you guys. I love you.
My friend at Gentle Doctor Animal Hospitals, Dr. Belfiore (Megan Belfiore-DiGiacomo), recently had a beautiful baby girl.
Guilia Marin DiGiacomo
Family friends are sponsoring a Go Fund Me page for Giulia and her family. Here is their story as told on their page...
On December 29th, Megan and Dominic DiGiacomo welcomed beautiful Giulia Marin DiGiacomo to their family. Early on in the pregnancy, Giulia was diagnosed with arthrogryposis. It's a condition that prevents a child's joints from moving normally. Often, the muscles around the joints are thin, weak, stiff or missing.
After Giulia was born, it was learned the condition is primarily affecting her hands, feet and legs. She spent her first month in the NICU unit at Methodist Women's Hospital. Giulia has already been fitted with a cast on one of her legs, and will undergo numerous surgeries in her first years of life. To further complicate things, a G-tube was placed in Giulia's stomach to allow her to get proper nurishment because she was having problems feeding normally.
Some of the DiGiacomo's "Italian friends" have put this page together to help them with mounting medical bills. Megan spent the last half of her pregnancy on bed rest and has been unable to work since, to care for Giulia. They are down to a single family income, and more medical bills are coming in. They have a high deductible insurance, and their out of pocket expenses will be significant.
As you can imagine, it's been a stressful time for the family, and we just want to do whatever we can to help make things a little easier, especially for their two other daughters, Gianna and Gabriella.
We hope you'll make a donation to help them get through this challenging time. Any amount, no matter how large or small, will go a long way in helping them pay their bills and letting them know that we are all thinking about them.
Help spread the word!
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Post from one year ago today...
March 12, 2016
Read Donna Kay's sweet story about her dog Bo here, and remember, YOU know your best friend best <3 Do you want to read more from Donna Kay??
Guest Post from Donna Kay...
I graduated from college and moved away from home in 2013. Naturally, my 6 year old shepherd mix moved with me. It was just going to be the two of us on this big adventure. Life was grand; two walks a day, coming home over lunch to hang out, and weekends on the couch cuddling.
About 6 months into adulthood/debt, I noticed my walking buddy wasn't walking the best. I took him to a vet in town, who told me he had bad arthritis, and that it would be "best" to put him down.
Never one to take advice, I was put in touch with a different vet. She put him on a high dose of Rimadyl, with the agreement we'd do blood tests every year to check organ damage.
Wow, what a change! Monday the suggestion is euthanasia, and Tuesday I'm agreeing to a 3, 4, 5 year drug plan!
I'm happy to report my best friend is still with me, he even has big responsibilities now. He keeps the couch from blowing away, he makes sure his little brother Duke behaves, and he barks like crazy at rabbits on our twice a day walks.
Sorry Bo, but it's going to take a little more than arthritis to take you away from me.
My Sister-I-Love is one of my favorite people in the world. Other favorites include our family members mentioned in this story! Read about Epona Horse Rescue and Destiny and more. And stay tuned for more horse stories!
Guest Post from Jodi Finch...
All my life, I have been a horse lover. As a little girl, I spent hours sitting at the feet of my grandpa’s farm horses, never once worrying that they could hurt me. The earliest picture of me on a horse is Grandpa holding me on his big Paint gelding, Chief, when I was six months old. Grandpa got me my first horse – a Shetland pony – when I was 7. His mare, Chica, gave me my first foal when I was 11. Flicka and I were best of friends, until I was 19 and an accident ended her life, way too soon. For years after that, I begged and borrowed every horse I could, knowing some day, I would have a horse of my own again.
In November of 2014, my daughter Kylah and I were killing a boring Sunday afternoon by visiting the Lancaster County Horse Expo. In hindsight, my husband Shane said the $20 he gave us for the admission fee was the most expensive $20 he has spent in his life. On that day, we learned of Epona Horse Rescue, based just outside of Crete, NE. A few days later, Kylah, my younger daughter Madi, and I visited Epona for the first time, and knew we had landed in our “happy place”. I could tell stories for days on end about Epona, and our time volunteering, the friends we have made, and horse stories galore. But one of my favorites, so far (besides the one where I met my heart horse, Freebird), is the story of Destiny.
On a warm Saturday in October of 2015, Lin, our Director, talked me into going with her to the Palmyra Sale Barn Horse Auction. I had never been to the Auction, but I knew it was not somewhere I really wanted to be. Going is never an easy decision for Lin, as there are always more horses than we could possibly hope to save. However "something" kept telling her that day that we needed to go.
When I arrived, I found a bench away from the crowds, and sat down to wait for Lin. A few feet away, there were two young women with tears in their eyes, one on her phone – I could over hear snippets of their conversation… ‘yes, she looks young.” “She’s severely underweight” “She’s got visible wounds and fresh blood”… at that point, I was nearly in tears. Having never been to the sale barn, I wasn’t sure what to do next.
I texted Lin, urging her to hurry, as there was something we needed to take care of urgently. As soon as she arrived, I told her what I had heard.
We immediately went back to the sale pens, stopping on our heels at the very last pen. Standing there, with truly a heartbroken look was a very young mare, nothing but skin and bones, and bleeding from gaping wounds.
The caller on the other end of the young woman’s conversation was the county sheriff, we learned, when he showed up a few minutes after we discovered the mare. He examined her, and apparently had been told we were “those women from the Rescue”. He told us he could not see anything wrong with her, and rather curtly suggested “since you’re the Rescue Gals, YOU do something about it”. At that moment, we knew it was destiny that we went to the Sale Barn that day.
The little mare was the last horse in the auction pen. She was so thin, and very obviously depressed that no one wanted her. Thanks to the generosity of a beloved donor, we were able to win the bid and rescue this sweet girl. We learned from another attendee at the auction that she was somewhere between two and three years old, and has only recently been sold to the individual who consigned her to the sale barn. We immediately went to the pens, and after securing some hay (okay, maybe I pilfered it off the hay cart when the pen attendant wasn’t looking), began to assess her wounds and feed her small bites of the hay. She immediately warmed up to us, nuzzling me as though she was thanking me for helping her.
We took her home to the Rescue that evening, and bedded her in a safe, dry stall, and had our veterinarian come assess and begin treating her wounds. She had several deep cuts on her legs and chest, and an abscessed hoof, along with cuts in her face where her head had outgrown a halter that was left on for months on end.
Within a few weeks of healthy groceries, and good wound care, the girl we named Destiny began to gain weight and heal, not only from her wounds, but from her wounded spirit. Her eyes began to sparkle, and she began nickering greetings to us.
Then, in January, we discovered our sweet girl had apparently met up with a flirtatious stallion at some point. She was pregnant! Without knowing her background, we could only assume we would have a foal sometime between April and September.
Being that Destiny is a walking mystery, it should come as no surprise that she gave us no indication of being in labor in early April. On Monday morning, April 4th, Lin went to the barn to do chores - guess what? Peeking from behind Mama was the sweetest little face you have ever seen. Princess Buttercup was born sometime between 10 p.m. on Sunday, April 3rd and 7:30 a.m. on Monday, April 4th.
After a colic scare with Destiny, we are happy to report Mother and Baby (Princess Buttercup) did quite well, and spent the summer with another mare and filly, growing and playing.
However – the story doesn’t end there! Princess Buttercup is a beautiful buckskin filly. She is happy and healthy – and was adopted by my 13-year old daughter Madi in October! Madi worked diligently over the summer, doing one of the hardest, dirtiest jobs a kid can do – destasseling corn for two seed companies. Early (as in 4 a.m. early) mornings, and long, hot days in the field earned her enough money to donate to the Rescue to adopt Buttercup as her very own! She has big plans for herself and Buttercup in the 4-H and open class horse-show world, and is working to train Buttercup all by herself. You’ll have to stay tuned for more Buttercup blogs in the future!
Destiny is still at the Rescue, and will either remain as a Sanctuary horse, or be adopted by a suitable adopter, one who is able to care for her emotional wounds and understands that she was severely scarred by neglected and starvation.
Founded in 2004, Epona Horse Rescue is dedicated to helping equine that are unwanted, abused, or simply if the owner is no longer able to care for them. Since the beginning, they have saved over 150 horses.
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Post from one year ago today...
March 10, 2017
I recently was able to help with a medical case involving a sweet dog from Golden Retriever Rescue in Nebraska.
A few days later, I saw a dog from the same group for wellness care.
In my overly optimistic, often but not always securely grounded in reality mind, this is a start of an avalanche of Golden opportunities! Soon it will be Beagle-Basset-Husky-Golden repeat forever! I am so happy.
My interactions with Golden Retriever Rescue in Nebraska (GRRIN) before this have involved strong emotional support for the group. When a member of their team owned Spirit World, what did I do? I went and bought a sandwich and drank wine there with Dad. When GRRIN was at a rescue gathering I was at, I bravely stepped forward to pet their dogs behind the ears.
So far, becoming more involved in supporting this amazing group in a professional capacity has been AS REWARDING as all of my involvement thus far.
Drink in honor of rescue groups. Eat sandwiches. Pet dogs and cats. And if these Pet Savers need a foster home, an adoptive home, financial support, blog posts written, a rally attended, a new team member...we as a community will be there then too.
We love you Omaha Pet Savers!
Levi had his eyebrows done! You won't believe the transformation!
Meet Jynx!